Contents

Chapelry History

CROMPTON [or Shaw], a township with a district chapel of ease, in the borough, parochial chapelry, and union of Oldham, in the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham,hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 3 miles north by east of Oldham containing the villages of Shaw, High Compton, and Cowlishaw. Shaw, which lies on the east side of the village of Crompton, has a parochial chapel built at least by the year 1704. The former edifice was of great antiquity, and was twice enlarged and re-edified during the last century; the present structure was built in the latter part of it. In 1845 a separate district chapel was formed, called East Crompton; and a church, dedicated to St. James, was built in 1847. Here are various places of worship for dissenters.[1]

The township of Crompton was originally within the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham in the Diocese of Lichfield, until 1541, when, owing to the English Reformation, this diocese was divided and Crompton became part of the Diocese of Chester. This in turn was divided in 1847, when the present Diocese of Manchester was created.

The exact date of the establishment of a place of worship in Crompton is uncertain. Although Shaw Chapel is certain to have been in existence since the early 16th century, it has been put that "Shaw Chapel is even more ancient than Oldham Old Church", as evidenced by the ancient toponymy of the area. Shaw Chapel was anciently known as St Patrick's Chapel-on-the-Moor, and during the reign of James I of England, "it was situate in the midst of the common called Shaw Moor, not a single habitation being near it". It is thought to have been constructed following an increase in wealth produced by the localisation of the woollen trade during a very bleak period, although, in 1552 it was noted that it had no endowment, and its ornaments were in poor condition. It was rebuilt in 1739 and enlarged in 1798, and rebuilt again in 1870. It is now known as the Church of Holy Trinity.

Shaw Holy Trinity is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Lancashire, created in 1719 from Prestwich St Mary, Lancashire Ancient Parish; Exact boundary unknown. Other places in the parish include: High Crompton and Cowlishaw.

Resources

Civil Registration

Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records

Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Parish registers for Shaw, 1704-1837 Shaw is a chapelry in the parish of Prestwich.

Content

Film

Baptisms and burials, 1704-1837; Marriages, 1704-1752.

FHL BRITISH Film 950395

Bishop's transcripts for Shaw, 1752-1854 Microreproduction of original manuscripts housed at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston. Holy Trinity Church is in the Chapelry of Shaw, township of Crompton, and parish of Prestwich. It was originally in the parish of Oldham.Lancashire Record Office: DRM/2/250a-252

Poor Law Unions

Probate records

Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Lancashire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.